I remember playing this game for the first time as a kid after being done with SvR 11, and there was a lot to like, but also a good amount to dislike. The main menu feels empty. Just some of the most basic edgy music playing and nothing else. No practice arena when you first start the game like in SvR 11 and just no character. That being said, the real good part comes when you start playing the modes. Road to Wrestlemania is a bit different as instead of multiple stories you can pick to play, you get three that you have to play in order. I absolutely loved all three stories, it was the right amount of wacky wrestling and I couldn't get enough of it. Matches themselves played like SvR 11, albeit a bit less smooth than before. What really shines is the universe mode. You can control more of what happens, changing what titles are on different brands, and seemingly every match has some kind of cutscene that happens before, during, or after. The draft was extremely cool and I wish they would incorporate it into modern universe modes. All in all, something that looks very dull when you open it but as you play it there is more and more to like about it

This is definitely an upgrade from the previous year. graphics as always continue to get better, but they've actually done some work in the other modes. Universe, while still not as good as I know it can be (i.e WWE 12, 13) is an improvement from the bugginess of last years game. GM mode is steadily becoming one of 2Ks most consistent and best game modes MyRise has some interesting stories this year and MyFaction will (hopefully) be a more useful mode if not for Person a cards alone. The one knock I have on this game is showcase, which was done so much better in the past games. Not giving us ingame cutscenes and instead choosing to splice the real match with the game just seems a bit dumb to me